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2026
Presentation
Title
Using Environmental Product Declarations to Differentiate Green from Conventional Plastics: Criteria and Case Study on Polyolefins
Title Supplement
Presentation at eceee Zero Carbon Industry 2026, Rome, 04.02.-05.02.2026
Abstract
Sustainable products must compete with conventional, fossil production routes while often carrying higher costs. Their economic viability depends on closing this cost gap. This can be achieved by raising fossil production costs through CO₂ pricing, by reducing green production costs via subsidies, or by securing higher willingness-to-pay for green products. All these approaches depend on credible verification that products are genu-inely green.
Reliable green classification standards are lacking, especially for plastics. A solution for comparing the environmental performance of products is to use standardised data in the form of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), in accordance with ISO 14025. The use of EPDs facilitates a supplier-specific green classification assessment at the product-level, offering a distinct advantage over approaches based on average data or generic benchmarks.
The central research question guiding this study is whether EPDs are a reliable data source for classifying plastic products as green. To address this issue, we compare EPDs with data from conventional life cycle inventory databases to evaluate their robust-ness for potential use in green product classification.
Given that environmental data sources fail to reflect rapidly developing green plastics production pathways, EPDs provide supplier-specific and up-to-date information that reflects these emerging production pathways. They provide more consistent results for distinguishing green from conventional plastics. However, their interpretation remains highly sensitive to data transparency, complicating comparisons across products. This research evaluates the criteria and data quality standards required for EPDs to function as decision-making tools in green product markets. Establishing harmonized standards for making carbon fully transparent and for comparing products would support closing the cost gap and providing market access for sustainable products.
Reliable green classification standards are lacking, especially for plastics. A solution for comparing the environmental performance of products is to use standardised data in the form of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), in accordance with ISO 14025. The use of EPDs facilitates a supplier-specific green classification assessment at the product-level, offering a distinct advantage over approaches based on average data or generic benchmarks.
The central research question guiding this study is whether EPDs are a reliable data source for classifying plastic products as green. To address this issue, we compare EPDs with data from conventional life cycle inventory databases to evaluate their robust-ness for potential use in green product classification.
Given that environmental data sources fail to reflect rapidly developing green plastics production pathways, EPDs provide supplier-specific and up-to-date information that reflects these emerging production pathways. They provide more consistent results for distinguishing green from conventional plastics. However, their interpretation remains highly sensitive to data transparency, complicating comparisons across products. This research evaluates the criteria and data quality standards required for EPDs to function as decision-making tools in green product markets. Establishing harmonized standards for making carbon fully transparent and for comparing products would support closing the cost gap and providing market access for sustainable products.
Conference